The Elder Scrolls Online will not require a PlayStation Plus membership to play on PS4, ZeniMax Online Studios Game Director Matt Firor wrote in a PlayStation Blog update. Bethesda confirmed to Joystiq that the subscription-based MMORPG will require an Xbox Live Gold membership to play on Xbox One, however.
(PC, PS4, The Elder Scrolls Online, Xbox One)

Doesn't surprise me coming from MS, most of X1's features/services are locked behind a paywall. I wonder why MS would put this game behind a paywall when they know their main competitor isn't? Paying for the game, a sub AND XBLG is too much to ask.

The X1 is pretty much useless without XBLG unless you are only interested in SP gaming, whereas the PS4 has plenty of games/services/features that don't even need PS plus. MS really need to step their XBLSilver membership game up.

So a game called Elder Scrolls online requires xb1 online access and you guys use it as an opportunity to down ms ft and the XB1. Also I would imagine 95% of xbox owners have xbl. Seems to be a bigger issue with Ps4 players than people with xboxes, so typical of this site.

Why so bitter? Why bash on this site just because you can't accept that this is a crappy decision from MS?

" Also I would imagine 95% of xbox owners have xbl"

...so what?!....that doesn't make the fact that 99% of the X1's appeal is locked behind a paywall acceptable. You guys are so quick to divert the blame with damage control.

The facts remain that if you don't want to buy PS plus...for ANY reason...then you can still get a lot out of your console and have a good time, the same simply can't be said for the X1 unless you are only interested in SP gaming for the entire gen.

Stop being so blindly defensive and admit that this is typical MS shafting their consumers, you you actually LIKE being treated like this? Making your consumers pay for a console sub after they have just paid for the game and the games sub is too much to ask, simple as that. And let's not get started on all the other trivial things that are locked behind the X1 paywall....

Truefan is butthurt because Plus offers a ridiculous value for $50 a year and you don't even need it to play a lot of the F2P games and now ESO. Gold on the other hand nets you a 3 year old + game every month and that's about it. I have both and Plus kills it.

Sssshhh, you're not allowed to say anything negative about Microsoft. The comment police will come in here and try to tell you what you're allowed to say and they just can't take any more Microsoft negativity no matter how deserved it is.

Literally no one should be surprised by this. Microsoft would put turning on the Xbox One behind the Gold paywall if they could. I'm surprised they actually haven't included some kind of credit card or Xbox Live card debit machine that you have to buy with your Xbox One so that you can swipe the card and pay for Live just to turn on the console.

@Milruka I remember seeing a game that you spent real money for ammo.If I recall you could actually make money also.Winner got some cash, haven't heard anything about it since then though.

As for the topic when I play MMO's I tend not to play other games.I invest lots of time in them and don't really need to pay for PS+ or Live for other games.Having said that I understand there are all kinds of gamers, some cant play one game only for 3 month straight some can.

It's a matter of perspective. You have to pay for PS+ if you want online play access for the majority of games. Elder Scroll online access is "free" with or without your paid Plus subscription. The question is, how many people play online in games like this, but do not want to play online in other games? At some point it becomes irrelevant where the "paywal" exists if you are paying anyway.

Live has always been needed for online access since it ties gamers together. There are no exclusions to when your friends can't access you. It doesn't matter if you are watching a Blu-ray, Netflix, Live TV or in a subscription based MMO. The service is always running in the background keeping you connected to your friends.

If I were to gather my friends and light some torches it would be about Sony charging for online access on the PS4. The service didn't change for PS4 to make it mandatory and you get much less bang for the buck if you are a PS4 console owner without a PS3 or Vita.

Once that is addressed I'll grab some of my Xbox friends and petition Microsoft to make access to Elder scrolls not included with my Live sub.

I have to agree. Microsoft just purchased Gears for a reported 100 million but they wont give their members better content on Live. They have the money to purchase all sorts of content for Live. They need to be more customer focused. I think they will change course though.

Edit @death...

While it is true (about PS3 being a better value than PS4 with PS+) please note that the PS4 just came out. Anyway I fully support that petition for Elder Scrolls. Even as a PS guy I want the best for all gamers. So if you make it I will sign.

Well said. Its easy to spot the hypocrites on this thread. They talk crap about MS and surprisingly (not really because they're hypocrites)) they somehow forget that online play for most PS4 games is behind a paywall forcing PS4 owners to pay for PS plus.

These same hypocrites were the ones that last gen were preaching that they would never pay for online and were constantly taking jabs at MS and 360 owners at every oportunity they got but now that Sony is doing the same, it becomes acceptable. Its amazing (not really because they're hypocrites) how fast they've changed their tune.

How are you forced? If you want to play online for free then there is Warframe, Blacklight, DC Universe with Planetside 2, FF 14 and TESO.

However what if you don't want to play online but want to use Netflix?

Can you do this for free on PS4 yes

Can you do this for free on X1? No

THAT is the difference also I can't speak for everyone as I have been a plus member since it started but the games you get as part of the service, as well as the none paywall of none gaming features makes paying for plus a less bitter as you can get a lot out of it without it.

The same can't be said for X1.

Also the free PSN was SLATED by 360 fanboys for being inferior to their paid service. Sony have already gone on record to say that money will be spent from plus subs to improve PSN.

So why you think people are being hypocrites is beyond me. Maybe if you actually knew the pros and cons of both you would see Plus is a far superior service for gamers as it's main purpose is its amazing Instant Game Collection.

So Netflix was the deciding factor for you? I totally agree that ps+ is a much better value you get a crazy amount of free games but that doesn't answered why online play isn't free anymore and that value is only good if you have a ps3 and vita too..

How aren't you forced to pay for PS+ if you want to play the online portion of most ps4 games that are and will be available on the market? What is so different about paying full price for killzone SF and being forced to pay for PS+ to access its online than paying a monthly subscription for this game and then being forced to pay for Live to be able to play it? In either case aren't consumers already paying to play the game before being forced to pay to access the online?

Also I'm talking about online play, not netflix or any other feature so I don't understand why you're bringing them up. What I'm discussing here, is that if you want to play most PS4 games online you are forced to pay for Plus.

Now I ask: where are those hypocrites that last gen were taking jabs at 360 gamers and telling everyone that they would never pay to play online? Why aren't they demanding for Sony to make online play free like it still is on the PS3?

You can blame Microsoft and Xbox 360 gold subscribers for Sony making PS+ mandatory for online play.

It's only because 360 owners showed they were willing to be be ripped off that Sony went ahead and charged for online. It would have been stupid of them not to charge for online when consumers have shown they were willing to pay.

@Death - "how many people play online in games like this, but do not want to play online in other games?"

Lots of people play games like this and can't stand other kinds of online games, but even if they want to play something else there are already several types of games that will have free online play without PS+.

"Live has always been needed for online access since it ties gamers together. There are no exclusions to when your friends can't access you. It doesn't matter if you are watching a Blu-ray, Netflix, Live TV or in a subscription based MMO. The service is always running in the background keeping you connected to your friends."

An excellent point against XBL in my book. Who says "always online" went away?

"At some point it becomes irrelevant where the "paywal" exists if you are paying anyway"

All you guys really need a clue about how many people bought 360s vs how many paid for XBL Gold. It's less than half, so stop this whole "Anyone who buys a console will take it online" shtick please. More things behind a paywall = bad. Less things behind a paywall = good. Why is that so hard to understand?

Lastly, you geniuses are the reason PS users have to pay to play online in most games now, so bringing it up isn't a great argument for you to make. Maniac wants to know why PS users are interested in this? I just explained it.

But if those "hypocrites" are slamming MS for putting none gaming features and ALL online gaming behind a pay wall how are they being hypocrites for using a service that doesn't put all online gaming or none gaming features behind a paywall?

P.S my friends situation is an example of how Plus and Live are not the same so you can't be a hypocrite for critasizing two different things.

I joined this site in 2007 not in 2012 like yourself and countless times I witnessed the hypocrites talking crap about 360 gamers because they paid to play online throughout the entire gen.

I was one of those users that kept taking jabs at MS for forcing consumers to pay for online and all the users that defended it.

Now just because Sony doesn't force us to pay for online for a few select games it somehow becomes acceptable to the hypocrites to pay for ALL the other titles?

By all means, keep believing that paying for the online of 95% of games instead of 100% is some sort of moral victory that gives you an excuse to act like elitist douchebags towards gamers that choose to play on MS consoles but to me being forced to pay for online for 95% of games is just as anti-consumer as paying to play for 100% of them and my goalposts didn't change just because Sony is now forcing their user-base to pay for online.

Edit Man you're dense... Again my comments are directed at the hypocrite n4g users, not your friend and I'm strictly talking about online play being behind a paywall, not the perceived value of either service.

I may of only been commenting since 2012 but how do you know I haven't been visiting for longer as a none commenter? Also that has no baring on the argument.

But ok let's play fair IF Plus was purely an online service you point would be valid.

But it's not so your comments are not valid.

The fact you have to ignore everything else that is added to plus makes your point laughable. You can't compare and only a fanboy would argue anyway.

Online play isn't even Plus main selling point it's the IGC

And as for calling ME dense? Again my friend was an EXAMPLE, I never once claimed it was aimed at him. I simply used his situation as an EXAMPLE (see it's there again) of how the two services are DIFFERENT.

So after dropping a bollock twice now you are the last person to be calling me dense as you have been clearly shown up for the raging fanboy you are.

I understand there are people who said they wouldn't pay for online but you aren't even addressing what's being said just trying to force your narrow sighted view without looking at the full picture.

You agree with Death about "lighting torches cause Sony charges for online" I wonder where the idea came from? Isn't that also hypocritical?

IMO XBLG was a better service until after PS+ first year.....After that with what PS+ offers now with party and XGC across both Vita and PS4 not locked behind ps+ also instant game collection.....you benefit much more paying for PS+ than XBLG

If u disagree I willing to listen to all facts why it isn't currently better.....and Sony fans should thank MS ironically for forcing Sonys hand into creating a much better service that benefits the gamer much more

There is a such thing as perceived value and IMO last gen MS locked many things behind XBLG to try and raise it value....this is why people I know that play multiple consoles hated, not just it being a fee....Calling people hypocrites without knowing everyones reasoning for their XBLG dislikes takes an enormous amount of assumtion

People don't realize that Microsoft's milk and honey is Live. Not Xbox. Think about it. They withhold the majority of the services that you are already paying for and they don't pay to provider their members with decent games. Its a panacea for them.

I'm glad I got out of Gold months ago. It took several years to accept I was buying into a system which didn't cater to my gamer needs. It was alright when I was playing CoD with friends on a daily basis, but when that wore out I begun to realize Gold wasn't for me (I even went to a third party to get Gold on the cheap for my last year).

I understand there are people who use 80% of the services and are fine with $60, but for someone who used Gold just for online play and Netflix (I can use Netflix on my Wii for free) $60 is too steep.

Personally PS+ is much more desirable. It's $10 cheaper and comes with free games every month (and not games several years old). I enjoyed my 360 but I am bidding fairwell to Xbox.

Its funny you mention that because on GamerTag Radio's Podcast a few months ago, they interviewed Micheal Patcher. He mentioned that he had spoken with Microsoft and was trying to give them advice on competing more effectively with Sony. Micheal had advised them to give away Live for a year with the purchase of Xbox One (or maybe it was six months).

Anyway, the moral of the story is that this had caught Microsoft off-guard and they were very much opposed to it. Microsoft makes bank off of Live. Anything they give away for free take the value away from a service that doesn't even give you many free games like Plus. Furthermore its only because Sony gives away top quality content that Live is looking worse and worse by comparison. Sony literally gives away more content than people can reasonable absorb. Its crazy.

Sony giving away content is part of the reason Sony is in trouble financially. As a gamer it's nice to get something for nothing. It's less nice if the company giving it away is having trouble keeping the lights on. How many software sales has Sony lost to the Instant Game Collection?

It's interesting that people support Plus on the PS4 as being mandatory to play online based on content they receive on other platforms. If you only have a PS4, Plus is not a great value. If you have a PS3 and Vita, the deal can't be beat. I'm not sure if it is in Sony's or the customers best interest to keep giving content away.

I don't see Microsoft being in a big hurry to follow a business plan headed in the direction Sony is going.

Sony inability to milk me for profit is none of my concern. There sub plan is better from a gamer's perspective than Live. It nice that you are so concerned about Microsoft turning profits on you back but I could really care less. @50 PS+ on PS4 is a better value than Live on Xbox One. You can't be wrong about it being better on PS3 because PS3 has way more content available period. Within a year, PS+ on PS4 will be stacked with content. We all know it. Also, the content on PS+ is fully funded by member subs so it's not coming out of their pocket. They purchase bulk licenses at discounted rates.

@Death see this is what I'm talking about. You and the spin tactics are pathetic. If Sony goes bankrupt it wont be because the PlayStation took them down.

Last I checked that was the division of Sony doing the best. So please try harder next time. Like I say in several posts I play good videogames period. I was at a MS kiosk in the mall yesterday and tried out Killer Instinct. It was fun and I might get a X1 just for that game.

Call me a fanboy but at least I'm an informed fanboy and know the difference between value and BS. MS and people who support thier nickel and dime tactics make me sad for the American gamer population.

"Sony giving away content is part of the reason Sony is in trouble financially." - Even though that's very likely untrue seeing as the playstation division is one of better performing section for Sony as pointed out by theoneb.

So it's you are fine with a company that's in a better situation not offering you better value. Not only can match Sony with IGC if they wanted they could offer better games and extras. SMH if you don't find it wrong that the more financially able company is not able to offer to same/better value than a company that hasn't been in the best of position for years then there's no hope for you.

"MS and Sony both want you to subscribe. That's where the money is, not console sales."

Yet Sony still offer plenty without the need for a PS plus sub. The trick is to offer enough to make people want to subscribe...but still offer enough for people who can't afford it or simply do no want to pay. As if people need any more reasons to buy a PS4....not only is it $100 cheaper, but it still offers games/services,features right out of the box without any additional spending. The X1 is bare bones without XBLG.

its ridiculous to see xbox fanboys defend this Death mentions that PS+ does not offer the same value to PS4 that it does for PS3. Yet he forgets GOLD offer what to the xbone? "dedicated servers" you still need to pay GOLD to use anything xnox online. With PS4 you dont have to pay twice for services, xbox fanboys really need to stop the denial train and admit they are getting ra**d with xboxlive gold memebership.

But you have to ask yourself. How many people are there going to be playing this game that don't have a PSN/XBL subscription? It's ridiculously small. Anyone who has the internet connection to play a game like ESO on a console most likely already have a PSN/XBL subscription.

Of course, i agree....but IF someone didn't want to pay for a console sub but did want to play this game....at least they will be able to on the PS4. It all adds to the appeal of the console, it may be a small thing on it's own but coupled with the other things that don't require PS plus, it makes people more inclined to buy the PS4.

You have the choice to play online for free on the PS3 or subscribe to Plus.

On the PS4 you have to subscribe to Plus if you wish to play most games online. Plus on the PS4 has very little value at this time since there is very little content available. Instead of releasing content and giving gamers a choice for Plus down the line as value improved, that choice was yanked.

Does the fact you can access Elderscrolls Online really make up for that?

Lets say i someone pays for gold, yet you had a month where your subscription ended but you have to wait another month to renew, is ok that you are unable to use things that are free everywhere else, or in this case a game that doesnt need a paywall on the other system-pc.. People here try to defend things that are against the consumers, sometimes i thing some users here have shares on MS profits or something..

I have 2 friends that won PS4s and only play Assasins Creed, and Fifa offline. For their online fix they play WARFRAME, BLACK LIGHT and WOW on PC. I know for a fact both are going too play this game cause they love MMOs, they wont have to pay more to play this on PS4 than what you pay for playing it on PC, unlike say..... xbone..

Stop spouting your stupid BS over and over , you are completely missing the point from pretty much anyones post , its like you are a paid MS attack dog with no thoughts of your own "On the PS4 you have to subscribe to Plus if you wish to play most games online." take a look at what you have written there, most games , the fact you can still play around 4 games right now online for free without needing PS plus is a far better option than taking it long dry and hard by MS from behind as you seem to enjoy.

@Lukas "Doesn't surprise me coming from MS, most of X1's features/services are locked behind a paywall. I wonder why MS would put this game behind a paywall when they know their main competitor isn't?"

You basically just answered your own question. Silver members don't get anything but the game they're playing. Gold unlocks everything.

Being a 360-only gamer up until 2011 i guess i should already know the answer really.....XBL silver was horrible, you had NOTHING, and even with Gold, it was still pitiful compared to PS plus. You just paid for the "privilege" of party chat and the odd demo every now and again.

I just wish MS were a little more...giving to ALL of their customers, not just ones who pay a premium. They need to straighten their image right now, putting things in front of the paywall would really help.

Thats the reason i sold my xbox 360.If i wanted to buy a game (im mostly into MP games) i had to spend 10+ more euros for XBL.Maybe i was used to play for free on ps3 and it was really irritating to pay for online on xbox.Maybe its just me

Straight up I would have wanted Sony to require PS+ for this game. Sonys actions are going to allow other developers to follow the same ideas. I don't would rather pay $15 and have all my games be available to play than have 5 games with a monthly subscription. The people who are getting fucked is the customers in the long run. Microsoft and Sony should both disallow this game to be sold on their platform with these subscription based rules.

PS4 f2P games that have online features do not require PS+ either, such as War Thunder. I know this because my subscription lapsed recently but I was able to keep playing it. Only when I tried playing another game was I blocked from online play.

No doubt MS started xblive and started real online gaming on consoles but since than sony has caught up to them and passed them up content wise but still xbliuve is better to fanboys

you can buy a ps4 and get psn-plus and download a lot of content to play. But you don't have to sign up for plus yet still be able to play free to play games ---------------------

Everything useful on xbox one is behind a paid wall

oh the cloud will make xbox one more powerful

DRM is what is next generation, that's what i ready before E3 from MS's fanboys. That xbox one is true ext gen because of all those restrictions. If it wasn't for sony ms would have no problems forcing all those policies on to gamers

Forza 5 is so much better, oh really because it has a lot less cars than forza 4, a lot less tracks than forza 4 and has a season pass that cost as much as the game itself. so i guess that's what makes it so next gen

PS4 the Ultimate gaming machine and sales show

2nd console of choice will be wiiu just to play Nintendo games in HD since most of MS's offerings exclusives wise isn't anything new

All online multilayer on XBone requires an Xbox live Gold account. No reason for Microsoft to make an exception just because Sony decided to make online free for this game. It seems that only Sony fans are upset about this.

Not upset, but upset that other developers will look at this as an opportunity to charge subscription knowing that Sony will not require consumers to pay. This move will fuck up the industry for gamers, Monthly fees should not be accepted in the gaming world specially when you have to buy the game too.

I could be wrong, but the attachment rate of Xbox Live gold is only around 55% is it not, with the rest having the silver account. I am pretty sure that same rate is probably the same on PS4 with PS+. Out of all my friends less than a third have PS+ on PS4. Single player games, apps, free to play do not require it. The pay wall of Xbox Live Gold does suck when it comes to the free apps, free to play on Xbox One. Microsoft is very greedy, yes!! That is why I only buy Xbox One exclusives and everything else is bought on PS4. Netflix has even stated that the PS3 in the number one console for their service, see not behind a pay wall MS!!!

A: you'd be stupid not to have PS Plus for the $50 per yr/ $4.16 a month / roughly .15 a day. Lay off the fast food, vending machine goodies, morning coffee and any other nasty habits and KaBooom you're in. Its a great value and will offer great things to come in the future especially on PS4.

B: Coming from the XBOX 360 to the PS4 (best move I ever made) I didn't know any one that had the XBOX 360 and did not have Live(gold). I believe most XBOX users are aware that this is a service they will have to pay for when purchasing the console and its just expected to have Live "Gold"

The console war has been over for a long time, and there really is no reason to bicker back and forth about how dumb Microsoft is and how smart Sony is. We already know.

The final nail in the coffin will be PS4's backward compatibility with the announcement of "Playstation Now"

Sorry Xbox One users and Microsoft but these next 5-10 years belong to Sony, PS4, Vita and all of their users. As a PS4 user its time to seize the moment and sit back and enjoy all the services that Sony has to offer : )

Could people please STOP DEFENDING M$ FOR ONCE ! They got a gift and yet THEY STILL COMPLAINING !? Why can't people compare the good from the bad WTF The world has become to , a world full of idiots ? Just be happy with your console of choice and Shut the Fxxk up instead of being a brainwashed tool for a company that care mostly about money and nothing else

All the people who disagreed are just playstation fanboys final fantasy 11 worked on Xbox live silver for free. Thais a fact that's history deal with it and stop being idiots it just makes you looks like petty retards.

There are too many fanboys on this site that shoot their mouths about hardware/pc gaming and a host of other subjects that have no idea what they are talking about but still shoot their mouths off and im sick of it.

Yeah, I agree with kobe357, Sony had to add ps+ to compete. At least you get games as an added incentive.

In August 2013 the amount that xbl brought in was $5.6 billion, and ps+ brought in $140 million... 32:1 in favor of xbl. If you were competing with another business and they brought in 32x more money, how else could you compete in terms of online infrastructure?

lol next people from their company will come to play in our houses to play half of the time. So we can only be pkaying half of the time. So we will need to buy another copy and that way an other representive from their company will come to our houses to play half of the time. Just imagine if you got a arcade hall or lan party Half of EA will be there lol. Well it's no surprise with all the shit their able to pull of

Come on Microsoft! You are hobbling this game with another monthly fee?! As if Bethesda didn't already hurt the game with a monthly fee. So lame. The money I spend on this game would pay for a new graphics card for my pc. Looks like I'll be modding skyrim for a while yet...

Oh the irony. You call an entire base of gamers who have an xbox related console as ignorant, yet you make a blanketed, arrogant statement like that. What about people who don't care about this game at all? What about people who pay for live because they game online ALL the time, they are ignorant as well? So, if I pay for Live to play Titanfall and I'm going to be a live member solely for the fact I game MP, I am ignorant? Yep, that makes sense.

Yes, I believe it's ignorant to support a company who does crap like this so often. They honestly don't care about their customers whatsoever. They aren't willing to provide value, and aren't even willing to negotiate. I'm just sick and tired of the careless decisions they make, and I will never support them. They're never going to change as long as people buy their crap. Because, to them, that means they're doing a "good job". All they see is $$$$

That's fine if you don't like MS, but to blanket the entire user base is a little extreme. You know, most people could care less about MS or Sony and just like the product. I like gaming, so I get all consoles, but I am never going to generalize that every person that likes a company I don't care for it ignorant or anything like that. Your gripe seems to be with MS, you shouldn't take it out on people who enjoy playing video games.

Most that dislike Microsoft are aware of their shady ways and how they abandoned their customers for the last few years. I see Xbox fans as either gullible or ignorant, at least the ignorant ones have an excuse since they don't follow gaming news usually.

Its about the people who own an Xbox and - somehow - don't play enough COD or the like to really justify paying for XBL. The people who can watch Netflix or Hulu on a half a dozen other devices connected to their TV, or not, and only have to pay Netflix to do it. Not MS as well.

And most of those people don't. Its also why the PS3 became the most popular Netflix streaming device despite MS having it exclusively for nearly a year - many people weren't that dumb.

"God I hate M$... So sick of their selfishness. And people STILL prefer Xbox. Blows my mind how ignorant both M$ and their fans are."

Wow... example of how N4Ggers have forgotten who they are.

Okay, I'll start from ground up as many have forgotten why they buy Xboxs and Playstations and Wiis. Firstly, why do we buy gaming consoles? What is the main reasons we buy them? It's games. We buy them to play games (games being keyword here).

Now, why do people like Xbox over the Playstation or vice versa? Is it possibly because they enjoy the games on one console rather than the other? So now ask yourself, is it ignorant of you to call an entire fan-base ignorant for buying what they want?

" They honestly don't care about their customers whatsoever."

Games with gold. Your point, dismissed.

" They aren't willing to provide value, and aren't even willing to negotiate.""

DRM. Point dismissed.

" I'm just sick and tired of the careless decisions they make, and I will never support them. "

Personal opinion (if you're not just making it up, like how you troll Xbox in most of your other comments).

"They're never going to change as long as people buy their crap. Because, to them, that means they're doing a "good job". All they see is $$$$"

The way you use the term "Good job" is very vague. Good job could be in terms of sales, quality, quantity produced, overall company value, annual revenue, business strategy and so on. Microsoft could be thinking they're doing a good job in terms of sales, whereas you're taking it out of context and saying that they're thinking good job in terms of something else.

***************************** * @ tommygunzII

"Most that dislike Microsoft are aware of their shady ways and how they abandoned their customers for the last few years."

If by abandoned, you mean no games, well look at it now. Is it not a sign that they are pumping out more games now to make up for the lack of games earlier? Now you're probably thinking, 'well what about in 5 years time' and for that, why complain about 5 years into the future now when you can't see that far ahead.

On a side note, Isn't it ironic how you provide the definition of 'ignorant', only to make a statement such as "Most that dislike Microsoft are aware of their shady ways and how they abandoned their customers for the last few years." I'd like to see the hard facts behind this statement, or are you "lacking knowledge" for this statement?

I do care. I care about the industry and games in general. And MS is doing things that are not good for the industry.. It just really disappoints me. This particular topic may not be that big of a deal, but it's ALL the other poor selfish decisions they've made combined with this that make M$ literally a giant money magnet with no passion or generously whatsoever. Sometimes I just have enough of it and have to speak my mind.

"I do care. I care about the industry and games in general. And MS is doing things that are not good for the industry."

What decisions have had a bad impact on the gaming industry? What decisions from Microsoft have affected you on the Playstation side? All I see is "they're doing all this bad" without any examples at all. It puts to question the authenticity of your argument.

So the question is, what are all the bad decisions Microsoft has made that have impacted the entire gaming industry, that have affected you on the Playstation side?

i pay 40 euro a year for xbox live, i game online on average around 20-25 hours a week... i get more than enough for the money i put in

these won't affect me in the slightest, not because of it being behind the paywall but the fact it's a (according to some) a full priced game (around 60 euros here more than likely) plus a monthly sub of $15 dollars so going by devs logic that'll be 15 euro a month... after 4 months i'd have bought the game again which is nowhere near worth it

lol at you and the ignorant fools like you. You're just so eager to bend over for MS aren't you and defend them at every turn.

Don't feel sorry for sony fans though. We're not the ones that are going to have gimped multiplats for the entire generation.

It's sad that you have 5 bubbles. And people keep calling this site a sony haven. I guess you ignored Kobe because you don't like people pointing out how flawed and stupid your comments are. Feel free to ignore me too and keep sticking your head in the sand.

Same for you jessupj, I can't see your comment so you should ignore me too. I ignored you and many others like you. You guys make me ashamed to be a Playstation fan (much different than a fanboy) and a gamer with the way you carry on. Just pull your lip over your head and swallow.

"Don't feel sorry for Sony fans, they are not the ones getting ripped of and turning a blind eye to it."

He's not feeling sorry for your money, he's feeling sorry for mentality to put it bluntly.

As for being ripped off, care to explain how I'm being ripped off? I've got a Xbox 360, and Xbox live sub and only use it to play Halo,Forza,GTA,Skyrim,Hitman,B orderlands 2 and on rare occasions MW2. I occasionally use party chat to talk with my cousins when they're on and buy DLC for games I like. So care to explain how I'm being ripped off?

@jessupj

"lol at you and the ignorant fools like you. You're just so eager to bend over for MS aren't you and defend them at every turn. "

To be honest, I actually do not (in any way whatsoever) see how TheRealHeisenberg is "defending MS" in that comment. To be frank, it actually makes you look like the "ignorant fool" here for false accusations.

"It's sad that you have 5 bubbles. And people keep calling this site a sony haven. I guess you ignored Kobe because you don't like people pointing out how flawed and stupid your comments are.Feel free to ignore me too and keep sticking your head in the sand."

Isn't it just hilarious how ironic this is. Your entire comment was an attack on Heisenberg, yet at no point did YOU point out how his comment was "flawed and stupid". Actually, if you re-read the comments, you didn't even provide an argument to dismiss his claims, you just attacked him and the Xbox fanbase rather than attack his argument. Your entire argument is an abusive fallacy, so render your entire comment invalid.

Im with Stopher92. This bullsh*t that MS has been pulling for years is just plain wrong and the fact that there are blind sheep that will defend this crap to no end is just sad.

I have never purchased an xbox in my life because i just hate the way microsoft treats people. I have come close but i always get pushed away by MS themselves. There are games on xbox one i want to play but as long as MS keeps this up i will never support them. Shame. Titanfall looks good too. But i'll catch the sequel on ps4

Learn to open ur eyes and see that the way MS is treating their customers is messed up people c'mon

Sony also has no invested monetary interest in the success of ESO, because they aren't the publisher. This is Zenimax Online and Bethesda's responsibility to get this ship sailing in the right direction.

What the shit Microsoft. You know your public image is in complete disarray at the moment and you can't afford to do anything stupid, so what do you do. This.

This would have been the perfect opportunity to throw the "Hey! we totally get you hate being gutted by us, so why would we charge you a sub fee, just so you can pay for a sub fee". But no...you're Microsoft, you'll never learn.

True, but at least sony is generous enough to give us the option. You never know.. What if somebody's PS plus expires and they can't afford to renew it until their next paycheck? Well Sony has their back, they could still play this game online, along with other games like Planetside 2, DC Universe, Warframe, etc. I respect Sony for not screwing people over and providing fairness and high value.

Well if you can't afford to renew a game subscription til your next paycheck then your money would be better spent somewhere else, btw, nice of you to ignore the $15 subscription -_- How does Sony get our back in that situation?

He has no interest in it at all. If he would have had to pay to use Netflix or any other thing he wants to do online he would have been pissed for the mandatory extra cost. So people cannot defend it ,

What I love about this is that most people that will play this game already play games online i.e. already have Xbox live and PS+. So it truly effect few people except for PS fanboys who love this stuff, and don't think things through.

The point has gone right over your head, like so many others. Of course people who will be buying this game and it's sub will most likely already have PS plus or XBLG...that's a given. But it says a lot about both companies and the way they do business. Sony didn't need to put this in front of a paywall, but they did anyway, just like they did with many other games/services/features...to a gamer that is going to be an appealing factor when considering which console to buy.

You have a $500 console which is pretty useless without a sub and then you have a $400 console that still has a lot to offer if you don't have a sub for whatever reason. Banging on about whether or not people will have a console sub if they have ESO is irrelevant, the fact is that one company doesn't require a sub and the other does, one company consistently puts things in front of a paywall, the other consistently pouts them behind a paywall.

"and don't think things through. "

Oh sweet irony.

"That said it should be the same on both platforms."

Exactly, it SHOULD be. So why isn't it on the X1? MS shafting their consumers and making them say thank you for it. It's almost like they are purposely trying to include everything they possibly can into XBLG no matter how trivial so that Silver isn't appealing whatsoever....it's business, but it's the usual sly, greedy, soulless business that we have came to expect from MS.

The excuses for MS putting things behind paywalls always make me chuckle....it's just like when people made excuses for DRM.... "Well who doesn't have internet in this day and age? I have perfect internet so i don't mind MS's DRM".

Lets not exaggerate here. To say a console is USELESS with out XBL is just plain wrong. You can download movies, watch TV, play demos, play single player games, listen to music, use every app except AP, and Netflix, and online MP.

I'm just trying to say it is being blown way out of proportion because 99% of people will already have XBL. Though Microsoft knows that too so you would think that it wouldn't matter if they made it so you didn't have to have XBL.

The only thing is Lukas what if the reason is because ES:Online is using the dedicated Azure servers for far better performance than standard servers. I played MMO's for a long time (even beta tested a handful) and server lag and latency is a big deal. So maybe extra value is there.

I agree with you that Microsoft should just make it free but have a sneaking suspicion there's a reason its not.

This isn't really that big of news.. Sony as a whole is in the red and they need money. So they're going to offer up whatever they can to get the sales. You're going to buy a subscription for the console anyways, unless you're going to play offline and F2P games the entire time...

Uh huh. Is it not true that Sony is suffering right now? Maybe not their console divison, but SOE is. They've been reducing staffing every year for a few years now and are still doing so. And anyone in their right mind would buy PS+. The free games are worth too much not too.

So the irony to this is that more than likely 90%+ of those gaming in Elder Scrolls Online will infact have either PSN+ or XBLG. Just by being online gamers on these consoles they will have more than likely bought the subscription, so really it matters little in the big picture.

This is more a PR move than anything for Sony ....and could have been for MS too had they thought it through. Sony knows most of their users will have PSN+ so why not just say its free from PSN as it sounds nice and is a feel good thing. It really matters little to the bottom line and Sony knows that so they are smart and play that card. How MS doesn't get that is beyond me? For such a forward thinking company they are so backward thinking in many areas.

In my opinion it should be the same on both. But like you said PlayStation plus is such a good deal (free games) that you would have to be dumb to not have it. That's the main reason why most PS4 owners have PlayStation plus. With that said even if you needed plus for this game it wouldn't be a big deal since the majority of PS4 owners already have plus.

Agreed...it really is just a perception thing. So wouldn't you rather a company like MS say "you don't really need XBLG service if you want to play this game, but thanks for buying our service anyway and enjoy the other aspects it gives you"?

Lol this really doesn't even matter. Anyone who buys elder scrolls online is 100% going to already have XBL gold. No doubt sony would require it too but they are trying to play up the, we are nicer and more giving, vibe. Ahh sony, always trying something to try to make u look good instead of letting hardware and games do the talking like Microsoft.

I've sunken over 100 hours into Skyrim, the world is big and beautiful. I've yet to touch the DLC, but will probably do so when I have the time.

I invested a similar amount of hours into Oblivion and Morrowind.

What I'm saying, is I really treasure the world of the Elder Scrolls. The lore, the locations, the details. I should be eagerly waiting in anticipation for TES Online.

But I'm not. While I would gladly pay to explore the world of Tamriel, I'm not prepared to pay a subscripton to do so.

I only have a set amount of free time, just because TES Online is 10 times (random number) bigger than Skyrim, does not mean that I'll be able to spend 1000 hours in it. There's pretty much no way I can invest any more time in TES Online than I have in Skyrim, so I cannot contemplate spending several times more money for the same experience.

LOL, Microsoft just doesn't learn. I can't wait for devs to finally leave DX behind and go with other APIs like OpenGL and maybe Mantle if it pans out. So much performance is wasted with DX. I'm sure if that happens, Microsoft will be unwilling to adapt and will still force devs to convert it to DX11 for Win8.1 and Xbox. It'll just cause there to be an even larger gap between Xbox and other platforms, and there'll be little more for Microsoft to use to pull everyone in with.

They are adapting way too slowly, they got spoiled with the monopoly they basically had last gen vs PS3, and they aren't able to grow out of their excessively anti-consumer methods that made them so much $$$ in the console world. The fact that they thought they'd get away with charging for Games for Windows Live on PC shows how crazed they got from the robberies they were committing on 360. They still force you to have Live to do anything at all on X1, it's not gonna last Microsoft. Plus, once a proper fully feature packed form of Linux is released with enough basic apps people need is released, many are gonna leave Windows ASAP. I know I will. I really feel bad for the xbots too brainwashed to realize how badly they're getting robbed and misled.

I am not for Sony making us upgrade to PS+ for online play of retail games, but in comparison they atleast come off as humans that comprehend the inconvenience and have made moves to make it more of a smooth transition. Microsoft comes off as just a huge corp that doesn't think in human terms, it's all money and projected profit margins. They're gonna run their gaming division and even Windows into the ground soon enough with their current strategy. The only thing saving them right now is blind followers, it won't last.

There is no reason for this game to be behind a paywall other than the fact that MS Live is a closed system and you will never get any of these services for free from them, even though you can get access for free on PS4 and PC.

It is pathetic, you have to pay MS just to have access to pay for access to the game.

I guess I'll be playing it on PS4 then. I'm not one to make a big deal about paying $40 a yr for a service that has always been a pay to play! But I understand if some are way over their head in a hobby thats pretty expensive to begin with!